Pantagraph.com Weather forecast, local radar and more
MoneyMonday, August 20, 2007 5:02 PM CDT
Southwest leads in passengers for airlines
Advertisement

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Southwest Airlines Co. is on track to unseat American Airlines as the top U.S. airline for total passenger traffic this year.

The domestic-only discount carrier is on a pace to eclipse American’s combined domestic and international traffic, according to a government tally.

Southwest carried 40.3 million passengers entirely on domestic routes in the first five months of the year, up 4.2 percent from last year.

American, owned by AMR Corp., carried 40 million passengers during the same period, down 1.8 percent from last year’s levels.

American’s international traffic for that five month period of 8.7 million, was up 0.3 percent in the first five months, while its domestic traffic of 31.3 million was down 2.4 percent.

American has been the top U.S. airline for the past five years, the Transportation Department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics said.

Rounding out the top five were Delta Air Lines Inc., UAL Corp.’s United Airlines and Northwest Airlines Corp.

Overall passenger traffic on U.S. airlines in the January-May period was up 1.8 percent from last year, with 307.9 million total passengers.

In May, U.S. airlines carried 64.7 million passengers, up 0.4 percent from the same month last year.

Video
Most commented stories
Community calendar
Browse online archives
Recent issues:
Reader comments on this story - 1 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Dead Eye Dick wrote on Aug 20, 2007 1:04 PM:

" Flying Southwest is, in my opinion, the closest thing to a pleasant flying experience around. If Southwest were interested and were allowed to serve this market, within six month there'd be only one airline @ CIRA. "

Add your own comments

Please read the rules before posting comments.

You must be logged in to leave comments.
If you don't have a member ID, please register.

*Member ID:
*Password:
Remember login?
(requires cookies)
  Forgot Your Password?